About

$17,126

pledged of $17,000 goal

28

backers

Movement Tracks ProjectPhase I is a collaboration of leading recording, legal, business professionals, and therapists to create new methods for music composition and recording to advance the use of technology to improve the walking of adults with Parkinson's Disease and of children with Cerebral Palsy.

The project is being launched by the Center for Music Therapy, based in Austin, Texas. They have been dedicated for 25 years to making music therapy and other sensory-based interventions more
accessible to consumers by providing traditional and non-traditional therapies, treatment services, programs,
classes, technologies and products.

We are seeking backers for the development of these groundbreaking brain-based music technologies that offer faster, more efficient tools to create greater access to effective treatment.

We’ve reached a crucial point in history where the population in our country is aging and expanding at a rate beyond our ability to fill the demand for healthcare services. There are projected future shortages for nurses, doctors, therapist’s across all regions of our country. Innovation is needed more than ever to provide tools and technologies to help us more effectively meet the healthcare needs for our future generations. Through the combined global impact of technologies and music we can turn what once was a struggle into confident first strides for improved walking for millions living with these diseases.

CEREBRAL PALSY (CP)
is
the
most
common
motor
disability
in
childhood.
Population-­based
studies
from
around
the
world
report
prevalence
estimates
of
CP
ranging
from
1.5
to
more
than
4
per
1,000
live
births
or
children
of
a
defined
age
range. About
1
in
323
children
has
been
identified
with
CP
according
to
estimates
from
CDC's
Autism
and
Developmental
Disabilities
Monitoring
(ADDM)
Network.

PARKINSON'S DISEASE is one of the most common nervous system disorders of the elderly. Approximately 1
million
Americans
live
with
Parkinson’s
Disease, which
is
more
than
the
combined
number
of
people
diagnosed
with
multiple
sclerosis,
muscular
dystrophy, and
Lou
Gehrig's
disease.
Approximately
60,000
Americans
are
diagnosed
each
year,
and
this
number
does
not
reflect
the
thousands
of
cases
that
go
undetected. An estimated 7 to 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease. Incidence of Parkinson’s increases with age, but an estimated four percent of people with PD are diagnosed before the age of 50.

Rhythmic Auditory Stimulus (RAS) is a brain based music treatment created when you match the beat of the music with the correct speed that a person walks naturally. RAS works because music coordinates the brain with a person’s muscles. The brain anticipates the beat in the music it is hearing therefore communicating a smoother more efficient muscle pattern to the legs when walking. The longer you train to the music, the more a person’s brain and muscles internalize this beat. Therapists change the tempo of the music in increases of 5%-10% throughout the course of treatment until they reach the patient’s individual goals for walking. When done with treatment the person’s brain will reset its internal timing and control of their walking movements. A person is then able to walk at their targeted tempo without the music when treatment is finished.

Audio Tracks Sync'd With Rehab ~ We are creating these audio tracks with standardized principles that have been developed through prior research. This prior research has shown clear benefits in this type of therapy in Parkinson's patients. As seen in the image below, their muscle movements become less erratic and more uniform.

MOVEMENT TRACKS IN ACTION

MOVEMENT TRACKS PROJECT TEAM

Risks and challenges

Our diverse and extraordinary team of professionals was assembled to address the risks and challenges we identified as inherent to this project.

After the audio tracks are created – which is the primary goal of Phase I of this project – we will move into Phase II identifying potential partners to integrate these tracks into new technologies and products. Since this kind of integration does not yet exist, there will be many subsequent challenges to realizing our greater goal of being able to use these audio tracks in new tools for more effective treatment of diseases like Parkinson’s and Cerebral Palsy. These include (1) difficulties in working through the varying goals and incentives among potential partners in the music and manufacturing industries, (2) licensing issues associated with attempts to license audio tracks for previously unused purposes, (3) potential issues in convincing clinicians in the value of using these technologies to enhance existing therapies and (4) the possibility that companies attempting to use music synchronization technologies for other purposes become future competitors in the therapy space.

Our team actively address and pursue challenges from their respective areas of expertise. We take precautions to offset risks and bring to this project the necessary resources to meet the challenges ahead.

We will keep our backers informed and updated about any issues that may arise throughout this groundbreaking and innovative Movement Tracks Project.